2nd life Pandora

[b_o_b]

Most members will probably sell their Pandora once the Pyra is launched but I am sure lots of members will keep it as a spare handheld or start using it differently. I am curious what kind of projects or future use might be possible with a Pandora. 

I own 3 cc Pandora's and I only need 2 so I am currently already in this position. Selling is an option, but I would rather do something geeky / fun with it.

Something I am considering:

- XBMC - for music it will be great, video and streaming will be more limited. To start using it I will need to buy a TV out cable - get my WIFI dongle working and buy a remote or check if the one I already have is good enough (probably not). I am already familiar with XBMC so I assume this shouldn't be too hard to set up.   

- As music player in my car - that is probably a lot more complicated and not sure if it is even possible. 

- Stand alone owncloud server. 

What will you do with your Pandora? 

 

[Majin Wamu]

I have been thinking about this a lot as well. Right now I only have 1ghz model. I thought about selling it either after or a little before picking up the Pyra, but I have enough in my savings account to pick up a Pyra when it is out. So, I don't really need the extra money.

So, the only reason why I may sell it is because I might not need it anymore, but knowing me, I may not do that because it has sentimental value now. It's kind of like how I kept my original DS even after buying the 3DS. I may also hold onto it so I can let family play with it. Or I might just use it to play certain games that I might prefer playing on the Pandora. Sometimes, like the DS vs the 3DS, I prefer one console over another when it comes to playing certain games.

We will see though. I might enjoy the Pyra so much that I may end up selling the Pandora. It is a hard choice. The Pandora already is a awesome device, so it is hard for me to give it up.

 

[Fzero]

I imagine mine will go into archive as an addition to my handhelds collection

 

[Null]

I'll either sell mine or keep it as part of my handheld collection, it depends on how much I need money at the time.

 

[b_o_b]

I still have two GP2X handhelds and don't really need or use them anymore. The upgrade from GP2X to a Pandora is much more significant then the upgrade from Pandora to Pyra will be. 

From a hardware perspective GP2X was basically obsolete since the day my first Pandora arrived. The upgrade to the Pyra might be different.

 

Pyra will become a better - but very similar - Pandora. Battery life, gaming controls and keyboard are also the main features of the Pyra. So Pandora might become a 'poor man's Pyra'. Will be interesting to see if the Pyra outperforms the Pandora in all cases, maybe Pandora still wins in some areas. If it does, that might be a valid reason to keep one too.

Its second hand value will be the main driver for me to sell one or two Pandora's but I am pretty sure I will keep one as spare handheld. How much it will be worth after the Pyra launch, will mainly depend on the introduction price of the Pyra and how it compares to the Pandora. 

The price for a second hand cc Pandora seems to have already dropped a lot, currently one is available in the trade section (and still not sold) for £100. Not sure if I am willing to part with one for that price. 

 

Just having it stored in the attic doesn't appeal to me either (I am not a collector) so I will probably start experimenting with it as an XBMC player once I receive my spare Pandora from ED that is being repaired.  Hmm.. now I think of it I'd better purchase a TV out cable before its shipped.  

 

[levi]

I'd recommend getting a TV out cable even if you just plan on using it as a music player plugged into your stereo/amp.  The S/N levels on the line out you can get from the EXT port are much better than those through the headphone socket since they bypass the headphone amp and volume control.

That's my plan too at the moment.  I think we're also missing software too at the moment - this idea could do with a music player you can control with a USB joystick or keyboard I reckon.  M3u playlist support, directory navigation to load the playlist only using easy keyboard keys/controller buttons.  FLAC/ogg/mp3/other support should be a given.  Anyone know of anything like that at present?

Perhaps I could even configure Deadbeef or Audacious like that as is.  I've not been able to configure the shoulders to do what I want as they's shift/control modifiers, so it only accepts them if you use them with another key. but I guess the same wouldn't apply if I was using a USB joystick.  I'd need to hook up a small TV to the TV out if I wanted to use it with the lid closed.

 

[b_o_b]

I'd recommend getting a TV out cable even if you just plan on using it as a music player plugged into your stereo/amp.  The S/N levels on the line out you can get from the EXT port are much better than those through the headphone socket since they bypass the headphone amp and volume control.

Yes, I ordered one Not sure if the difference in audio quality will be noticeable on my sub par TV set, but maybe I will invest in a better setup in the future.

That's my plan too at the moment.  I think we're also missing software too at the moment - this idea could do with a music player you can control with a USB joystick or keyboard I reckon.  M3u playlist support, directory navigation to load the playlist only using easy keyboard keys/controller buttons.  FLAC/ogg/mp3/other support should be a given.  Anyone know of anything like that at present?

Well, there is XBMC. XBMC supports most formats for audio and video and m3u shouldn't be a problem too. I just tried to use my mini wireless keyboard iPazzPort with my Pandora and works fine out of the box (only need a -> USB 2.0 cable)   

So theoretically it shouldn't be problem to set-up XBMC to work with a remote keyboard or joystick. I might even prefer a gamepad (e.g. rumble gamepad from Logitec). I have experience with a XBMC setup with a gamepad and that works very nicely with XBMC.   

I am not sure how complete the XBMC port from ptitSeb is. If there are dependencies that need to be installed afterwards it might be better to use something like slackware to install XBMC but then you miss the optimization ptitSeb did.

Will have to test to see. If you only need a music player XBMC might be overkill though.. 

 

[levi]

Yeah, I installed XBMC on my original xbox some years back.  Never used it for music playback, but for playing DVDs the controls work well with a pad.  Not got round to trying it yet on Pandora.

 

[b_o_b]

I have installed XBMC on my rebirth Pandora just one pnd and everything works. Pretty pleased with its performance and works very nicely. Didn't have any problem with any of my mp3's, ogg's or flac's. All standard musicplayer stuff is on board and lots of plugins available (for audio as well) 

Will try some of the plugins once I get my WIFI dongle working. 

 

[dimag0g]

I guess pandora can make a nice low power file server running btsync. I only wish there was a way to power down the USB completely on Pandora, so that external HDD could be powered up on schedule to make backups.

Of course, it will also remain a spare, and perhaps an extra gamepad control for pyra!

 

[DrHAX]

My Pandora is a tool for me. I've grown accustomed to writing on its keyboard and as long as it functions I shall do so. Even if I get a pyra my Pandora isn't going anywhere.

 

[ZXDunny]

I still have two GP2X handhelds and don't really need or use them anymore. The upgrade from GP2X to a Pandora is much more significant then the upgrade from Pandora to Pyra will be. 

From a hardware perspective GP2X was basically obsolete since the day my first Pandora arrived.

Ditto. My GP2X languished in a drawer for a year after I got the Pandora, so I sent it overseas - a chap I met online who was struggling to make ends meet was wanting to pick one up cheap so I boxed up the charger/batteries and console and sent it to him free of charge; I'd much rather he got some joy out of it where I no longer did. I also sent him a couple of SD cards too.

Not doing that with the Pandora - I'll set it to boot directly into PandaBAS and use it as a handheld Super-Spectrum.

D.

 

[klapse]

I guess pandora can make a nice low power file server running btsync. I only wish there was a way to power down the USB completely on Pandora, so that external HDD could be powered up on schedule to make backups.

Of course, it will also remain a spare, and perhaps an extra gamepad control for pyra!

My toshiba USB hdd powers down by itself when it is not being used. Maybe there is a way to change the SMART settings of your drive to have it sleep after a few minutes.

 

[dimag0g]

I guess pandora can make a nice low power file server running btsync. I only wish there was a way to power down the USB completely on Pandora, so that external HDD could be powered up on schedule to make backups.

Of course, it will also remain a spare, and perhaps an extra gamepad control for pyra!

My toshiba USB hdd powers down by itself when it is not being used. Maybe there is a way to change the SMART settings of your drive to have it sleep after a few minutes.

I believe mine does that too, I have to ckeck if it happens with Pandora and how much it consumes while not being accessed for a while. Too bad system info only shows useful stats about the battery and not the mains power supply.

 

[levi]

I had a rather old WD drive that appeared to do that - although I never got it to change its behaviour using the SMART tools. I've since switched it to a different drive which doesn't appear to power down, though I've not got round to trying the SMART tools on it to see if I can make it do the same.

Edit: Turns out it does spin down if I leave it on doing nothing for long enough. Guess I'd just got better at using it when it was on and turning it off when I wasn't temporarily.

 

[b_o_b]

As mentioned in this thread I wanted to set up one of my Pandora's as a XBMC player. Some comments below.  

 

It is a pretty decent experience even on my classic Pandora. Prerequisite: you need a swapfile to be able to use XBMC - at least on the cc. The pandora is connected with the dragonbox TV - cable to my TV with 3 cables - composite video - audio L and audio R. In the TV out app I needed to select composite (default setting is NTSC and results in black/white screen)

Of course the resolution of the Pandora is low, so don't expect a very sharp image - but I was pleasantly surprised by the steady video out signal. I have understood S-Video provides a better image - but the composite signal is good enough for me.  

 

I have been playing around with a cheap generic USB gamepad for input - it works but has some issues. I used qjoypad to bind the joypad keys but some keys are not available in the app and 2 buttons are registered as one. Might be an issue with the driver/kernel or the app itself. 

Still enough keys were available (keypad and actionbuttons worked fine) to make it usuable with XBMC. Unfortunately and more problematic is that qjoypad sometimes stops working, especially after some multitasking in XBMC. Qjoypad then needs to be restarted to get it working again.  

 

Using a gamepad as input is nice - especially if you are planning to use the Pandora for gaming on TV as well. I don't think I will be playing a lot of games on TV though so I tried my ipazzport wireless mini keyboard http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-iPazzport-2-4G-RF-Wireless-Keyboard-Mouse-Touchpad-for-Android-smart-TV-/301200331422?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item4620f0529e

It is automatically recogniced and doesn't need any configuration. After pluging it in I had a small wireless keyboard and mouse available. Works very well with XBMC but more important it has a rock solid connection and is great with the pandora XFCE desktop and other apps. With the iPazzport and Pale Moon it is also pretty comfortable to browse the internet on the TV.

 

XBMC on the cc Pandora works fine, but it is certainly not fast. You will notice some slowness in the menu's especially during streaming/video playback. Avoid multitasking - e.g. close a streaming video before searching for a new one. 

Streaming video does work fine as long as the add-on adjusts the video format automatically or it is adjustable in the add on settings. You will probably need a WIFI dongle if your WIFI connection on the Pandora is poor. 

 

[ibisum]

My original CC Pandorae (x2) will be used forever for games by the kids .. even if I get a Pyra, the Pandora is a timeless machine and won't be discarded so easily, alas..

 

[___]

what torpor said... well, I don't have kids yet. But I am still a kid at heart.

I will have my Pandora in my collection and will use it just as I use my other linux boxes: for everything I can! I have finally ordered myself a Ghz pcb, since I always wanted to upgrade my CC. Maybe the CC will go into my arcade cabinet for example? If I can get it into another case, I will use it as a spare, for listening to music via mps while having breakfast... whatever I can think of really.

 

[b_o_b]

 Maybe the CC will go into my arcade cabinet for example? 

Would love to see someone build a (mini) arcade Pandora cabinet. 

 

[FBnil]

I had to grow into handling the Pandora, lots dropping, bumping, etc, (from the shirt pocket, on a bike, to falling from the bed, because I slept in listening to it). By the time the Pyra arrives, the screen will be permanently purple (yeah, I started getting a purple screen, but after some gentle fiddling, it works again). So, for the first months the Pyra will stay at home until it gets all software ready (will be fun getting the phone working), and then Ill switch. Meanwhile, the Pandora is good enough, and when I go places where I could lose the thing, you know, muggers, then Ill just take the OP. Daughter still not into computers, so it will have a place of honor. My idea was to collect weatherinfo, but now they sell the kit so cheap... I wont bother. There was a project I had to let it sleep, let it wake up with a script, run a motor to water plants, then go to sleep again, to water my plants during vacation, but I have so little time now a days.

how attached to it, you say... well, I've forgotten my badge to get into work a few times, even my headphones (my cubicle is next to the coffeecorner, too chatty), but never my OpenPandora. (well, only once, that I know of, to be honest)